1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to situational awareness of vehicle traffic behavior and more particularly to a sensor network for detecting anomalous behavior of individual vehicles during off-peak, low-density conditions and tracking the target vehicle until another asset can be tasked to investigate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traffic behavior monitoring technology has expanded significantly in the last few decades. Existing traffic monitoring systems provide local and regional traffic officials with a variety of capabilities for monitoring traffic flow patterns for the purposes of improving traffic control systems, traffic laws, and law enforcement. Traffic monitoring systems used by local and regional traffic control officials fall into two primary classes: mass traffic flow monitoring systems and discrete vehicle behavior detection systems.
Mass traffic flow monitoring systems monitor large vehicle traffic patterns in certain discrete areas to report traffic jams or slow-downs, or to study macro-flow patterns in support of traffic control analysis. Technologies employed for these purposes include fixed cameras or radars tied into the city electrical power grid that communicate using wireless technology. A mobile technology used for studying macro-flow patterns is the pneumatic road tube system, which uses a pneumatic line that is hand-emplaced across a road and records the number of vehicles that run over the line. Data collected by mobile systems such as pneumatic line tubes require that the systems be relocated many times to different areas over a long period of time during the duration of the study.
Discrete vehicle behavior detection systems detect individual, discrete vehicles for the purpose of detecting traffic violations such as speeding or red-light running. Generally, these systems employ radars or cameras (or both), often hard-mounted to traffic signals at intersection and hardwired into the city power grid. These systems report detections of individual vehicle behavior at discrete points along a road or at a traffic intersection. All of the above systems require either manual emplacement or permanent installation. The radar and camera systems also require directional alignment of sensors.
Similar technologies are employed to conduct surveillance of human traffic at international borders, although the concepts of operations are quite different than for traffic monitoring. In addition to direct observation by border patrol agents, several technical means are employed to detect illegal border penetration activity. These systems include: a) observation towers equipped with infrared cameras, radars, or other sensors; b) airborne platforms, both manned and unmanned, equipped with detection sensors; c) ground or maritime patrol vehicles equipped with binoculars, cameras, or other detection aids; and d) unattended ground sensors. Each of these systems, including unattended ground sensors, is designed for direct detection of border crossers. Unattended ground sensor units are designed to detect illegal activity directly through detections made by individual sensor units acting in isolation from each other, although network activity may be used following detection for system communication and control purposes. In addition to directly detecting a border penetration attempt, border agents always remain vigilant to detect potential threat ground pick-up/drop-off and transportation activity in support of a border penetration. For this reason, maintaining situational awareness through persistent surveillance of traffic patterns in border areas is a crucial aspect of border security, especially in wide-area, rural, or remote border regions. Currently, the only means of detecting in-country threat transportation support are direct observation by border patrol agents, and manned traffic control points.